To be beautiful is not a goal, but for Miren Bengoa, executive director of Fondation Chanel, “by feeling beautiful a woman feels empowered.”
Women’s empowerment is the clear mission of the French fashion house’s corporate foundation. Launched in 2011, it has worked quite discreetly over the past four years. “We needed to identify a number of partnerships and see them through before we publicized the existence of the foundation,” Bengoa told Devex in Paris, on the sidelines of the Convergences Forum where she spoke in a panel addressing the development potential of vulnerable populations.
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About the author
Elena L. Pasquini@elenapasquini
Elena Pasquini covers the development work of the European Union as well as various U.N. food and agricultural agencies for Devex News. Based in Rome, she also reports on Italy's aid reforms and attends the European Development Days and other events across Europe. She has interviewed top international development officials, including European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs. Elena has contributed to Italian and international magazines, newspapers and news portals since 1995.
